October 2022

Hot Birds: October 2022

Sat, 01 Oct 2022 00:14:00 GMT

The absolute top bird of the summer was a Cape Verde Shearwater spotted by a small pelagic birding excursion off of Chatham. This was only the second accepted record for all of North America, and the first for Massachusetts. A few other records, including one from Massachusetts, are suspected to be this species but not confirmed. Ian Davies took the photo above. See the full story on page 324 of this issue.

The Brookline Bird Club overnight pelagic trips frequently bring back astounding reports, and this summer was no exception. The rarest species seen this summer was a Black-capped Petrel, though it was overshadowed by the mind-blowing, unprecedented numbers of White-faced Storm-Petrels whose numbers exceeded 400 individuals at just one stop during the trip. John Oshlick took the photo above.

Ted Gilliland spotted a Franklin’s Gull, apparently Hampden County’s second record of the species, on a small island in the Connecticut River near Longmeadow. It was not reported again from Massachusetts, but another report came in from northeastern Connecticut three days later and about 35 miles away. Ted took the photo above.

About Books: Four Short Reviews of Four Large Books

Sat, 01 Oct 2022 00:05:00 GMT

The Complete Birds of the World: Every Species Illustrated. Principle illustrators: Norman Arlott and Ber van Perlo. 2021. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press; Ireland: Harper Collins Publishers; Britain: William Collins.

It has always been an ambition of mine to produce a colored checklist of every bird in the world, so I was more than happy when I was approached by Myles Archibald of Harper Collins to put together a book of the world’s birds, drawing on their collection of bird guide artwork. (p. 9)

This is exactly what Arlott says it is: a huge, illustrated checklist, 300 color plates illustrating more than 10,700 species, including most male and female plumages when those are different. No subspecies are illustrated. Species are mostly drawn to scale on each plate. Opposite the species plates is a page that includes the bird’s name and one short paragraph with details on length, spare details of plumage, voice, habitat, distribution, and where unique, behavior. Most of the illustrations are taken from the Collins field guides. There are no real extras. There is one full page of bird topography. There is a full-page world map, bizarrely without country names or borders, so it is a map of the continents.

Arlott is the author and illustrator of a number of books. His art has even appeared on stamps from countries such as Jamaica, the Bahamas, Liberia, and Fiji. Van Perlo has also illustrated many field guides. In addition, several of the illustrators have worked on South American field guides.

At a Glance: October 2022

Sat, 01 Oct 2022 00:01:00 GMT

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Sat, 01 Oct 2022 00:00:10 GMT